Bachelor Nation Quitters! Leads and Contestants Who Self-Eliminated From the Show

Many contestants from The Bachelor, The Bachelorette and Bachelor in Paradise have chosen to self-eliminate before getting sent home or production wrapping. One of the most shocking Bachelor Nation exits was leading lady Clare Crawley, who got engaged midseason to contestant Dale Moss leaving the rest of the season up for grabs. However, she’s far from the first person to quit on their own terms.

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As a matter of fact, season 16 wasn’t even the first time Clare herself chose to leave a show before getting forced out. During season 1 of Bachelor in Paradise in 2014, Clare quickly struck up a serious romance with Zack Kalter. However, fellow contestant AshLee Frazier caused drama when she told Zack about Clare and Juan Pablo Galavis’ romp in the ocean on The Bachelor.

While Zack didn’t care, Clare was frustrated that he didn’t defend her or tell her about it, and instead, she heard it from other girls in the house. Clare later told Zack she was quitting and left the show in week 5.

Four years later in 2018, Clare returned to Bachelor Nation on Bachelor Winter Games, a spinoff that aligned with the winter Olympics. While there, the Sacramento native struck up romances with two international hunks: Benoit Beausejour-Savard and Christian Rauch. Eventually, she cut things off with the hot Canadian to focus on Christian, but that soon soured when he confronted her for ditching him in the jacuzzi and said she was “a pretty woman, but not more.”

“I let an amazing man walk away, and it’s like, for so many years I’ve let the wrong guys in that are the jerks, and I always end up alone,” the hair stylist cried. Eventually, she quit the show, but soon reconnected with Benoit offscreen. The couple got engaged on After the Final Rose but went their separate ways a few months later.

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Clare shocked fans again when she and Dale left The Bachelorette together. They’ve since had their ups and downs post-show but are still together. Luckily, Tayshia Adams was ready to step in and finish out season 16 and got her own happy ending with fiancé Zac Clark. 

For more Bachelor, Bachelorette and Bachelor in Paradise contestants who quit the show, scroll through the gallery below.